Virginia Executes Man Convicted Via Dna

April 28, 1994|By New York Times News Service.

RICHMOND, Va. — Timothy Spencer died Wednesday night in Virginia's electric chair, becoming the first person executed in the U.S. for a conviction based on the DNA-matching technology known as genetic fingerprinting.

Spencer, 32, was convicted of raping and strangling four women over 11 weeks in 1987. No victim survived to identify him, no fingerprints were found, and no one confessed. Then DNA tests linked semen from the crime scenes to Spencer's blood.